Get Pickled at the Fermentation Festival in Petaluma

Jennifer Harris has the kind of enthusiasm about beet kvass and kimchi usually reserved for lottery winners and game show contestants. So it makes sense that she’s also the organizer of Sonoma’s largest celebration of fermentation — The Sonoma County Fermentation Festival, Sept. 2 at the Petaluma Fairgrounds.

Check out this short film on fermentation, featuring Jennifer Harris:

Now in its seventh year, the event has grown from a small gathering of enthusiasts in Occidental to a true festival with 75 vendors, including beer, cider and wine tasting, cheesemakers, picklers, chocolatiers and kombuchists.

Riding a wave of probiotics and food preservation fascination, Harris’ ongoing event is an ode to the importance of microbiomes and healthy approaches to making fermented food at home. That, and a darn good spot to taste some of the most unique libations being made in Wine Country, from sake, mead and water kefir to shrubs and unfiltered ciders.